Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
Caught in the Act? Images may reveal planetary birth
Astronomers, for the first time, have imaged dusty clumps surrounding young stars that could be planets in the making.
- Planetary Science
Gassy Geysers: Cassini surveys Saturn’s moon
NASA's Cassini spacecraft had a close encounter with the giant vapor plume gushing from Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus.
- Planetary Science
Titan may harbor underground ocean
Observations by the Cassini spacecraft hint that Saturn's smog-shrouded moon Titan may harbor a global ocean of water and ammonia 100 kilometers below its surface.
- Planetary Science
Dusty Clues: Study suggests no dearth of Earths
A new study suggests that many, or perhaps most, sunlike stars have planets much like Earth.
- Planetary Science
A sunlike star’s early development
A new infrared portrait of an embryonic sunlike star reveals an early, crucial step in the process of planet formation.
- Planetary Science
Sister Planet: Mission to Venus reveals watery past
The Venus Express probe has found evidence that Venus once had more water than it does today, and has provided new measurements of the weather on Venus, proof of lightning on the planet, and signs of a formerly unknown hot spot near its south pole.
- Planetary Science
Chilled Out? Ice could lurk beneath Martian equator
An immense volume of ice-rich material may underlie a formation that extends about one-quarter of the way around Mars' equator.
- Planetary Science
Portrait of a Martian crater
An ultrasharp image of part of Mars' Gale crater shows waterborne sediments and volcanic ash.
- Planetary Science
Titan: Land of lakes—and drizzle
A newly assembled mosaic of radar images of Saturn's moon Titan shows what appear to be hydrocarbon lakes and seas.
- Planetary Science
Martian rovers survive storm
Three months after being stymied by a planet-wide dust storm, NASA's twin Mars rovers are back in action.
- Planetary Science
Neptune’s balmy south pole
Neptune's south pole is about 10°C warmer than any other place on the planet.
- Planetary Science
Muddying the Water? Orbiter drains confidence from fluid story of Mars
New images of Mars diminish the evidence that liquid water has flowed on some parts of the planet, but bolster the case in other places.
